justcrusn

And YES, sometimes there are sales. I’ve gotten BOGO as well as Buy one get one half off. There can be sales on excursions, dining packages, and other experiences. There is currently a sale on drinks and more for my cruise. You will see it in the cruise planner and probably hear about it here on cruise critic if you are active on your roll call.

It’s definitely good strategy to use obc, and if you upgrade onboard that’s exactly what happens but it will be full price, it can happen pre cruise but takes a phone call.

The only advantage to doing it precruise is that it is imprinted on your card, while an upgrade later is a “sticker”

So, not to dodge the question, but we love the onboard experience so much that sea days top the list. The ship could leave port, sail in circles and return a week later and we’d sign up. In the Caribbean, however, the private island at Coco Cay was very nice, and snorkeling/scuba in Belize is great.

So, you have made excellent choices so far.

Next, find the roll call for your cruise on this site. There you will meet the others on your trip and share ideas and plans for excursions etc. 
I think it is an incredible resource!

To answer your original question, you do it onboard. We also make that a first stop (any specialty restaurant) and make our reservations. You often have the first one already reserved, but can change that. Look carefully at the packages, some are better deals than others, and they may go on sale from time to time.  We once got 6 nights for the price of 4.

It may be as good or better to ask for discounts during the cruise but if you want to be sure, do it ahead of time.

I’m just curious why your luggage would weigh a different amount on the way home?
We usually purchase a few souvenirs, some t-shirts or coffee mugs, my wife a purse or something, but if our bag weighed 40 pounds on the trip there, it shouldn’t be more than a pound or two more on the way home. Are we not shopping enough lol?

I think what he is saying is that, OFFICIALLY, the answer is no.

In practice you can ask and as the french say “perhaps yes, perhaps no”

So,  be prepared for no, but, but that’s not the worst thing that could happen....

You have a great bev package!

There are usually “duty free” alcohol and other items for sale, on board and ashore.

I’d check costco or similar before you leave as i have not been impressed by the price to deal with the inconvenience of the whole deal.

To actually book a flight, you need a cruise reservation, but with or without one you can put in your desired itinerary and see what flights and prices look like. Sometimes changing one airport, for instance gatwick instead of heathrow makes an enormous difference. We might return to the US via New York, Washington, Chicago,Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, ...You get the idea. We plug in different flight times, cities and dates until we like the fare and the times. Only once have i found a better deal  myself over choiceair.

Correct. You will not even sign a receipt.

In our experience, Murano is the best. After that, Luminae. Tuscan is just okay, but has an awesome view, so the ambience is there, just not so much the food. The wife also LOVES Lawn Club grill (when available) and i do too. Sushi was very good, Le Petit was not a good experience for us, the one time we tried it. (But we liked the old Qsine).

The ONLY thing you would change by upgrading is the Tequila brand they would use in the drink. And, that’s only if he specifically asks when ordering. The bartender typically doesn’t look at your card until after making the drink. 
the old saying applies here, try the classic package awhile before you decide if you need to upgrade.

And i hope Celebrity DOES NOT copy Carnival for this or anything else....

So, the answer is a lot like asking what is the weather  like on Wednesdays, it varies.

But, we’ve done a lot of these and typically two things stand out.

1. The ship moves about the same speed as a weather system so if you leave in sunny skies or rain that follows you a bit.

2. Most of the time they are passing out towels by the pool in the beginning, followed by blankets near the end. How fast it changes over depends on the route.

3. Id strongly recommend you try one, the prices (especially after final payment) can be ridiculously low, and airfare through choice air is very affordable. Where else can you stay two weeks in a suite for $1799 p.p.?

I have been able to order a “standard” martini at the martini bar that was covered by a classic package. A basic martini costs something like $6-$7 everywhere on the ship.

But in fact they mostly serve specialty martinis that cost more than the package. My wife’s favorite is the sunset martini by the way.....

I surrender. 

If thats what it takes, i guess i have to join the hordes who save chairs.

My wife and i both chuckled at the title of this thread and had the same question.

Why would anyone NOT want to eat in the better restaurant?

I know reasonable minds may differ, but we believe Blu to be head and shoulders better than the MDR and can’t imagine switching.

YMMV

You aren’t going to like this but...

The terms of the cruise contract allow them to change your cabin.

In your case, special circumstances dictate they should not. Most of us would be very upset, cabin choice is a big deal!

I hope you get a favorable result.

To answer your original question, NO, it does not happen often, but it can.

Its sooo variable. I looked at a verandah on Edge just Wednesday morning and it was $1900. I tried to put it on courtesy hold real quick but couldn’t. At lunchtime when i had time to book it the price had DOUBLED to $3900. Yikes!

23 hours ago, kitty9 said:

Can someone explain the whole IV thing?  I’ve looked at the pics on the X website, but it doesn’t explain much.  

The IV differs from a traditional verandah or balcony. First of all it can be closed or open like the windows in your car. Sometimes by the ship, sometimes by you.

it has been described as an oceanview where you can open the window.

The complaints are mostly that if you open the folding door to the verandah, the AC in the cabin is disabled. Also, there are not curtains so if you wake early and go out on the balcony your companion will have the bright light too and cannot sleep in. The only cabins NOT equipped with IV are sunset verandah which are traditional balconies.

I think the focus, is what they are selling: fasionably new.

im not buying, at least yet.

you can stop some of the tracking by deleting cookies regularly, however if i shop nikon lenses, my wife gets nikon pop ups! Its kind of scary....

The worst is “search engine” guy who asks if you tried the search engine!

But seriously i prefer to think people are offering what advice they can, if they don’t know the answer (and in this case it varies) they recommend where you can go to find out. No one on here actually knows their specifics, so you aren’t going to get a direct answer anyway.

Just to chime in, there are aft concierge balconies as well, category C1.

You can keep your concierge points that way.

I think there are a total of 4 possible aft view cabin categories:

sunset verandah, C1 concierge, Suites, and on some ships Family Verandahs.

If i missed one, someone is sure to correct me.

It works either way, we usually purchase it before the cruise. It’s best to call rather than order online to get the discount. If you prefer, you can do it onboard by visiting the ilounge, but there is often a line.

And just to chime in, you may be just fine with a one device plan. What it really means is one device at a time. When you are connected and he wants to be, he simply logs in and it disconnects your session. You can then log back in and end his session etc. So, unless you really need two at the same moment, one plan will suffice. We usually do it that way, and if we both just have to be connected simultaneously the second person uses their 90 minutes.

16 hours ago, ak1004 said:

We always book inside cabin because we spend very little time in the cabin

If we had an inside cabin, we wouldn’t spend much time there either, but we LOVE our verandah. We have breakfast there, read there, watch sunrise,sunset, look for flying fish, dolphins, or whales. The sound of the waves against the ship is enchanting like the surf at the beach it’s our favorite place to be, AND can be affordable, on our 13 night cruise a balcony guarantee was the same or less than inside and oceanview.